This specimen of convolute binding really put into a quandary. This volume comprised of a year’s worth of Russian magazines Printing Art (“Печатное искусство”.) And it had one of the pages from the first issue cut out.

I guess it’s time to open a special section on our website: “How not to…”

The binding is sturdy and quite well done. I may challenge the decision to make a stab binding out of a series of magazines. But otherwise, the job is performed well. The thing that made me search for an answer for some time was that one of the pages was missing. And only in a while, I figured the compare paper with the sheet pasted on the cover: they matched!

There is one thing that should be absolutely unacceptable for any modern bookbinder. One shouldn’t cut away pages to decorate the first cover of the book. Or for any other reason!

To add insult to injury, they didn’t even bother to put something under the pages when they made the cut, so the previous page ended almost cut away as well…

And here is the missing page pasted on the cover. Was it worth it?

I even may say it is understandable for a hundred-year-old binding. The page is dedicated to the magazine itself and boasts its title in an elaborately decorated box. But today, if you want to decorate the cover with something from inside the book, you can easily make a high-quality copy. And even with all these modern technologies, there still are bookbinders and book owners who decide to cut out elements for some other use.

I found this practice somewhat similar to the pernicious habit of some people of cutting away frontispieces for collecting or resale.

Please don’t. Just don’t.

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Stepan is the owner and editor of iBookBinding.com since August 2015. He has been a bookbinder since 2006 and has taught hundreds of students since 2014. Recently Stepan spends more time crafting and 3d-printing bookbinding tools than making books.

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